Iran foils hijack bid on Tehran-Damascus flight

Iranian security forces foiled a hijack attempt on Saturday by arresting a man on a flight to Syria who said he had planted a bomb on board, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

An official from Iran's national carrier, Iran Air, told the agency that the man was suffering from a "mental problem".

"The man ... said that he wanted to hijack the plane. He caused panic among the passengers. But he was immediately arrested by the security forces on board," Shahrokh Noushabadi, head of the airline's public relation office, told Fars.